[{{{type}}}] {{{reason}}}
{{/data.error.root_cause}}{{texts.summary}} {{#options.result.rssIcon}} RSS {{/options.result.rssIcon}}
{{/texts.summary}} {{#data.hits.hits}}
{{{_source.title}}} {{#_source.showPrice}} {{{_source.displayPrice}}} {{/_source.showPrice}}
{{#_source.showLink}} {{/_source.showLink}} {{#_source.showDate}}{{{_source.displayDate}}}
{{/_source.showDate}}{{{_source.description}}}
{{#_source.additionalInfo}}{{#_source.additionalFields}} {{#title}} {{{label}}}: {{{title}}} {{/title}} {{/_source.additionalFields}}
{{/_source.additionalInfo}}
ignorance, she dangerously presume what is not allowed and prohibited, or lest, little by little through laxity and detestable sloth, she more dangerously neglect and condemn it. Therefore, in virtue of obedience we strictly enjoin each and every one of you, and we command that you humbly and devotedly accept this form of life, fully explained below, which we are sending you, and that you and those who follow you strive to observe it inviola- bly for all time.
3So that the order of your life, firmly built and established on Christ after the manner of and in imitation of those who have served the Lord without complaint and have crowned the begin- ning of their blessed and holy way of life with the most blessed conclusion of perseverance, may be able to grow into a holy tem- ple in the Lord and by following the footsteps of the saints may be able to reach the reward of such a high vocation directly and happily, we give you the Rule of Saint Benedict to be observed in all things which are in no way contrary to that same Form of Life that was given to you by us and by which you have especially chosen to live. This Rule of Saint Benedict is known to embody the perfection of virtue and the greatest discretion. It has been devoutly accepted from the very beginning by the holy Fathers and venerably approved by the Roman Church.a
4Therefore, after abandoning and depising the vanity of the world, it is proper and becoming all who have resolved to embrace and hold to your religion to observe this law of life and discipline, and remain enclosed the whole time of their life.b After they have entered the enclosure of this religion and have assumed the religious habit, they should never be granted any
- The Rule of Saint Benedict was given to the community as a necessary juridical basis in light of Canon 13 of the Fourth Lateran Council. In a letter to St. Agnes of Prague, Pope Innocent IV maintained that it was never binding upon the Sisters except in regard to “obedience, renunciation of ownership, and perpetual chastity.” Cf. Bullarium Franciscanum I, 316; Luke Wadding, Annales Minorum 3rd ed., 1243, n. 28 iii (Florence: Ad Aquas Claras, 1931), 96 (hereafter cited as AM). See also Lazare DeSeilhac, “L’Utilisation de la Règle de Saint Benoît dans Les Monastères Feminins,” in Atti del 7 Congresso Internazionale di studi sull’alto medioevo (Spoleto, 1982): 527-545; also Jean Leclercq, “Femminile, monachesimo,” Dizionario degli Istituti di Perfezione 3 (1976), 1446-1451.
- For an excellent summary of the theology and evolution of the legislation governing the enclosure, see Noreen Hunt, “Enclosure,” Cistercian Studies 21(1986): 51-63; 22(1987): 126-151; also, Jane Tibbets Schulenberg, “Strict Active Enclosure and Its Effects on the Female Monastic Experience (ca. 500-110),” Medieval Religious Women, Volume One: Distant Echoes, eds. John A. Nichols and Lillian Thomas Shank (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1984), 51-86.